1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to manipulators, and particularly to manipulators with combustion protection.
2. Description of Related Art
With developments in industrial technologies, manipulators are increasingly applied in hazardous environments such as those involving potentially explosive concentrations of combustible gas, dust, powder, etc. Manipulators can be utilized where human operators would be in too much danger.
Manipulators often have a complex construction, including electrical components as motors, relays, electromagnetic valves, electrical cables, and so on. When a manipulator operates in a hazardous environment, to prevent combustible gas, dust or other volatile material from entering the manipulator and detonating when encountering electrical activity therein, incombustible gas is introduced into the manipulator interior to prevent ingress of the unstable material.
The manipulator can be further protected by ensuring that the interior gas pressure of the manipulator exceeds the air pressure of the ambient environment. However, during operation of the manipulator, milling powder, paint vapor, or other combustible particulate matter may enter the manipulator through the joints thereof, thereby creating danger of explosion. This can occur even when the interior gas pressure exceeds the air pressure of the ambient environment. Additionally, when the manipulator is idle and remains in a hazardous environment, no incombustible gas is introduced into the manipulator, and the gas pressure inside the manipulator is the same as the air pressure outside the manipulator. Thus combustible gas, dust and other volatile materials can drift into the manipulator interior, and establish conditions in which an explosion is possible when the manipulator is powered up.
To enhance the security of a manipulator that has been idle, high pressure gas is introduced into the manipulator before it is powered up. However, such a procedure delays the operational deployment of the manipulator. In addition, the root cause of the danger, namely the combustible material entering the manipulator through the joints, is not addressed.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.